Saturday, March 12, 2011

Being Human - Poptimal: Sam Witwer Interview

Being Human, Syfy’s re-imagining of the BBC series of the same name, has proven to be equal parts a faithful adaptation and a slew of welcome surprises. First approaching with caution, fans now openly embrace the series, which stands on its own. The premise follows three twenty-something roommates living in Boston—with the added bonus of being a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire—trying to maintain a normal life amid their supernatural circumstances.

Sam Witwer (Smallville, Battlestar Galactica) plays Aidan, a 257-year-old vampire who constantly struggles against ever present bloodlust to keep clean of his formal lifestyle. I had the chance to chat with Witwer about balancing the many sides of Aidan, whether or not he’s seen the British parent series, and what’s coming up as the season winds down...

... Aidan goes through so many shifts in each episode. One minute he’s this feral, hunter vampire and the next he’s battling his addiction, then the protective older brother to Sally and supportive best friend to Josh. What are your favorite parts of Aidan to play? How do you relate to a character with so much going on?

Sam Witwer: "It’s actually a wonderful thing about this character and it’s part of the reason why I felt so foolish to have thought to turn this down for a moment, because this is an irresistible character. I really, really love playing him and I love the fact that he goes through some major stuff but still, at the same time, there’s some room for levity. That’s just something I haven’t had a chance to do that much, to keep certain things light and have funny moments. I’m frequently impressed with how Anna Fricke and Jeremy Carver can fit humor in situations that I would think might be too grim or serious to have a humor or that the humor would undercut the drama of the situation, and that’s just not the case on this show. I’m very grateful the tone we established and their intent and their talent in terms of these scripts has been so consistent. In terms of the character, it’s really wonderful. I really like the funnier moments, those are a lot of fun to play. At the same time, the character is kind of the dramatic, grounding force of the show. He’s kind of the glue for the three roommates and he really anchors the show in this place. Sam Huntington goes off and him and Meaghan make it a really fun show. I really do enjoy the character and there’s a lot of challenges in terms of trying to figure out how to play this. Essentially, the biggest concern for me is we’re talking about the metaphor of drug addiction. That’s my thing, if we’re talking about real things, and the audience will relate. If we’re just talking about genre things, some people will enjoy that but others won’t necessarily. I think so long as science fiction is thoughtful, and genre stuff is really anchored in some form of reality, you’re doing something about the human condition, then we’re good to go. Thankfully, throughout the entire first season, we hit that pretty hard..."